Sport Helmets, Inc. (d/b/a “Cascade”) (Liverpool, NY) sued New Balance, parent company of Warrior Sports, Inc. (Warren, MI) for trade dress infringement and dilution resulting from Warrior’s sales of its “TROJAN” lacrosse helmet which Cascade alleges infringes its rights in its “CPX” helmet.
The complaint is a bit over the top with the history of Cascade, comparison of the products, comments from the public, and other rhetoric. (I smell a preliminary injunction motion.) As is often the case with trade dress cases, the images say far more than the words. You be the judge:

Two quick questions:
(1) How much of the trade dress design of the helmet is functional? (Cascade alleges none); and
(2) If the CPX design is so important to Cascade (which takes up a good portion of the complaint), why doesn’t Cascade have a registration in the design?
Sport Helmets, Inc. v. New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc., 10-10179-RGS (Feb. 5, 2010)
[UPDATED to more precisely state the functionality question and to include the complaint.]
Download Cascadewarriorcomplaint